CCTV, RTÉ, ESPN and Discovery are among the broadcasters shortlisted for the IBC2018 Innovation Awards. 

1998 awards

IBC Innovation Awards: Ten finalists from ten countries made the shortlist

The Awards celebrate innovation and collaboration in the media, entertainment and technology industry.  

The ten finalists from ten countries in five different continents demonstrated excellence in producing and delivering sport and news, multi-lingual content creation and multi-national delivery, new ways of engaging audiences and new business models to maximise revenues.

The winning projects will have shown how the commissioning company worked closely with its technology partners to solve a clever, creative, operational or commercial issue for a media business. 

IBC Innovation Awards Chair Michael Lumley highlighted the range of work. He said: “We have live coverage from rally cars, a fantastic new way of immersing audiences in the thrills of winter sports, a highly productive way of creating news stories for multiple languages and cultures, a new initiative to bring OTT and mobile television to sub-Saharan Africa and a whole host more.”

The award goes to the end user, the organisation which is using the solution to achieve ground-breaking results.

Content Creation

  • Chinese broadcaster CCTV for its networked 4K Ultra HD live coverage of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics
  • Euronews and what it describes as the world’s first ‘glocal’ news service
  • Discovery and Eurosport for the Eurosport Cube, a live virtual reality studio that allowed experts to demonstrate the techniques on show at the Olympic Winter Games

Content Distribution

  • Econet Media has developed a remarkable TV everywhere platform for Africa
  • Discovery and Eurosport worked with NEP to develop its Mediabank solution to manage assets and archives for coverage of the Olympic Winter Games
  • Vodafone has a new multi-national, cloud-based television distribution system which it is rolling out from Europe to New Zealand
  • Medialaan in Belgium now offers subscribers the ability to watch programmes from the beginning, with the advertising adjusting itself automatically to ensure that the right messages are seen while the viewer gradually catches up with the live transmission

Content Everywhere

  • Irish broadcaster RTÉ with Saorview Connect, an advanced, connected, free-to-air television platform
  • Global sports media specialist ESPN with Shortstop Live, a great way for journalists to get on air from their phones with the shortest of latencies
  • WRC, the World Rally Championship, which now offers All Live, the chance to travel onboard with your favourite drivers, however long the stage

BroadcastPro Middle East Editor and IBC Innovation Awards Judge Vijaya Cherian said: “IBC is the one global meeting place for our industry.

“The remarkable spread of finalists for the awards this year reflects that international viewpoint. I look forward to meeting all the finalists, and hearing the winners announced on Sunday night at IBC.”

The winners will be revealed at the IBC2018 Awards Ceremony on Sunday 16 September at 18.30. The ceremony will also include the International Honour for Excellence, the highest award that IBC bestows.